Union organization in Great Britain

Paul Willman and Alex Bryson

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Union membership and density in Britain has experienced substantial decline since 1979. The fall in private sector membership and density has been much greater than in the public sector. The size of the union sector, measured by employer recognition, has shrunk. Membership decline has been accompanied by financial decline. Much of the decline occurred before 1997, under Conservative governments. Since 1997 and the return of a Labour government, the position has in some respects stabilized. Currently, unions have a substantially reduced economic impact, but a continued, if limited, role in workplace communication and grievance handling, often as part of a voice regime including non union elements.

Keywords: British trade unions; union structure; union membership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J5 J51 J53 J54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2007-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19762/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Union Organization in Great Britain (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:19762

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